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Sir Geoffrey Howe : During the past two years Dining Rooms A and B have been reserved on 1,399 occasions by
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Conservative Members ; 167 times by Labour Members ; 81 times by Members of other opposition parties ; and 57 times by Members of the other place.Mr. Flynn : To ask the Lord President of the Council whether he will list the numbers of outside groups that have used hospitality rooms A and B in the Commons broken down into (a) commercial organisations, (b) voluntary bodies and charities and (c) other groups during the past two years.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : Functions organised in accordance with the banqueting regulations are the responsibility of the sponsoring Member. It is therefore the practice of the Catering Sub-Committe not to divulge the information requested.
PRIME MINISTER
Advisers
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what guidance she issues about when advisers (a) should and (b) should not speak in public.
The Prime Minister : All civil servants are subject to rules of conduct which are set out in the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code. Similar rules apply to other advisers. General guidance on the application of those rules to the question of speaking in public is given in chapter 6 of the personnel management handbook, copies of which are available in the House Libraries.
Iraqi Business Men
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Prime Minister whether she is satisfied that no involvement of Iraqi business men in
chemical-defence and communication industries in the United Kingdom exists which compromises national interests.
The Prime Minister : We use all information and legal powers available to us to control illegal or improper procurement activities in this country. The export of chemical, nuclear and defence and other sensitive goods is subject to strict export licensing regimes. In addition, supplies of British defence equipment to Iraq and Iran continue to be governed by the guidelines introduced in 1985.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Drugs
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison staff have been either suspended or disciplined since 1986 for the alleged or actual possession or importation of an unlawful drug into a prison establishment in England or Wales.
Mr. Mellor : Since January 1986 11 members of staff have been prosecuted or subjected to disciplinary proceedings for drug-related offences.
Civil Service Dispersal
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to relocate his Department's offices to the north- west of England ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Waddington : There are already several Home Office establishments in the north-west. I am at present considering the possible relocation from the London area of a number of Home Office functions, but decisions have not yet been reached either in principle or on the areas to which relocation might take place.
Parties
Mr. Thorne : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is proposed to make it a criminal offence to organise a party for over 500 people for which admission is charged without a licence.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : It is already an offence under the London Government Act 1963, the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 or the Private Places of Entertainment (Licensing) Act 1967 to provide music and dancing without a licence if it is for the public entertainment or at a private entertainment promoted for private gain. We are considering whether penalties under these Acts need to be increased ; and whether steps should be taken to confiscate profits where an event is in breach of entertainment licensing law.
Prisoners (Drugs)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of inmates who were put on report in prisons in England and Wales during the last 12 months for being in unlawful possession of drugs.
Mr. Mellor : Information is not available in the form requested. But some 1,974 charges of possession of a controlled drug were dealt with by governors or boards of visitors in prison service establishments in 1988.
Category A Prisoners
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of (a) men and (b) women being held as category A prisoners and who are over 65 years of age in prisons in England and Wales.
Mr. Mellor : According to information available centrally, which is approximate, two men and no women aged 65 and over were held in security category A in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 30 September 1989.
Drug Offences
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of United Kingdom citizens now living abroad who are wanted by police in the United Kingdom for suspected drug-related offences ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information requested is not available. No separate record is kept of the number of wanted persons thought to be living abroad who are suspected of drug-related offences. The police work closely with their colleagues abroad to identify wanted persons and to take action were possible.
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Rule 43 Prisoners
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of (a) men and (b) women being held on rule 43 in prisons in England and Wales on 1 November.
Mr. Mellor : The latest readily available information is given in the table.
Prisoners held in Prison Service establishments in England and
Wales under Prison Rule 43 and Young Offender Institution Rule
46: by type of segregation, age group and sex, 30 June 1989
|Own protection |Good order or discipline
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aged under 21
males |200 |40
females |6 |2
Adults
males |1,970 |189
females |33 |6
Prisoners (Drug Addicts)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of registered drug addicts in prisons in England and Wales on 1 November.
Mr. Mellor : There is no system of registration of addicts. The number of addicts in prison service establishments at any one time is not known. During 1988, 1,644 addicts were notified to the chief medical officer at the Home Office by prison medical officers in the United Kingdom. An addict may be notified more than once during a year and counting addicts at their first notification in 1988, 1,311 were first notified by prison medical officers, as shown in table 10a of Home Office Statistical Bulletin Issue 13/89, "Statistics of Drug Addicts Notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1988", a copy of which is in the Library.
Birmingham Pub Bombing
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the replies by the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) to the hon. Member for Motherwell, North (Dr. Reid), Official Report , 26 October at columns 1032-33, from which month in 1986 the period covered by the Assistant Chief Constable of Yorkshire's inquiry commences ; and whether the inquiry will look at material collected by the Devon and Cornwall police in the course of their investigations into the conviction of those found guilty of the Birmingham pub bombing.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The investigation being carried out by the Assistant Chief Constable from West Yorkshire into the work and practices of the West Midlands serious crime squad will concentrate on the period since 1 January 1986. However, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) indicated in his reply on 26 October, if the inquiry were to give rise to doubt about earlier cases, any convictions which arose from those cases would be examined.
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Wandsworth Prison
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the present work projects being undertaken at Wandsworth prison ; and if he will list them and the money that has been allocated for each project.
Mr. Mellor : The following major building projects are in hand at Her Majesty's Prison Wandsworth :
Project |Latest available estimate
|of cost
|£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General security upgrade |865,000
Improve drainage |1,690,000
New reception building |2,282,000
Improve perimeter security |220,000
Slopping Out
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of prisons in England and Wales where there is only a slopping-out toilet system for inmates.
Mr. Mellor : There are at present 36 establishments where prisoners have no access to night sanitation and 31 where not all prisoners have such access.
Civil Defence
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the considerations that led to the decision being taken that the scenarios for the regional civil defence exercises in the United Kingdom should be built around periods of international tension or conventional war.
Mr. John Patten : Regional civil defence exercises are designed to test local authority plans. The local authorities involved have agreed that it would be sensible for the first series of such exercises to concentrate on the initial phase of a possible war crisis, covering a period of international tension. In due course, consideration will be given to whether these exercises should be extended to include a period of possible hostilities.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the reasons for the renaming of the Civil Defence college at Easingwold.
Mr. John Patten : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Mr. Lester) on 5 June at columns 514-15.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by region, all the civil defence exercises planned for the remainder of 1989 and for the whole of 1990.
Mr. John Patten : Civil defence exercises are held by a number of organisations, and a comprehensive list is not maintained centrally. In England and Wales, regional civil defence exercises to be held jointly by local authorities and the Home Office are planned for region 3 (East Midlands) and region 4 (Eastern) in November this year, and for region 2 (North East) in 1990.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those items of exercise-related expenditure eligible for civil defence grant from his Department.
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Mr. John Patten : All expenditure incurred by local and police authorities in connection with their participation in civil defence exercises is eligible for grant, provided that the conditions of the Civil Defence (Grant) Regulations 1953 (S.I. No. 1953/1777) (as amended) are met.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will update the arrangements his Department has made towards competitive tendering for civil defence in (a) wartime emergencies and (b) peacetime emergencies.
Mr. John Patten : Home Office procurement policy is to place contracts with competent suppliers which represent, as far as possible, the best overall value for money after inviting firms to submit tenders in competition.
Party Conferences (Security)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources were made available for policing and security at the 1989 (a) Labour party conference at Brighton, and (b) Conservative party conference at Blackpool ; and what were the costs.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the chief officers of the forces concerned that the additional costs of policing the 1989 party conferences were estimated as follows :
Conference |Force |Additional cost (£) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Labour |Sussex |4,000 Conservative |Lancashire |1,080,000
The level of resources provided for the policing of party conferences is an operational matter for the chief officer of police in the light of all the circumstances, including an assessment of the threat of terrorist attack and a recognition that there is a serious threat to members of the Government.
The additional costs of policing will be met by the Sussex and Lancashire police authorities. Under the normal funding arrangements, the Government contribute both directly through police grant--which is at 51 per cent.-- and indirectly through block grant.
The parties themselves also incur costs on specific security measures at their conferences.
Police (South Yorkshire)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what requests he has received for increases in the manpower of the South Yorkshire police in each year since 1979.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Applications have been made in the years set out in the following table :
Year |Posts applied for|Posts approved ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1980-81 |278 |120 1983-84 |<1>54 |- 1985-86 |9 |- 1986-87 |213 |9 1987-88 |52 |50 1988-89 |50 |20 1989-90 |50 |27 1990-91 |50 |<2>- <1> Letter from the Chief Constable rather than from the police authority. <2> Not yet decided.
Hon. Members (Age Limit)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to review the minimum age limit for persons wishing to become hon. Members.
Cyclists (Prosecutions)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of prosecutions of pedal cyclists for riding without proper lights on the cycle in each of the last three years.
Mr. John Patten : Information held centrally for 1986 to 1988 is given in the table.
H Persons proceeded against for lighting and reflector offences on pedal cycles<1> England and Wales Year |Total proceeded against ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1986 |2,751 1987 |1,732 1988 |1,593 <1>Offence under section 74 of the Road Traffic Act 1972 and RVL Regulations 1984.
Tote
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions his Department has commissioned an independent inquiry or investigation into the privatisation of the Tote ; who conducted the inquiry ; and what were the conclusions.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The only independent inquiry into the feasibility of privatising the Tote has been conducted by Lloyd's Merchant bank ; its conclusions were submitted in confidence to the Government in April and are still under consideration.
Mr. John Kamara
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet received a report from Merseyside police into allegations by Mr. John Kamara of wrongful conviction ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : No. Mr. Kamara has submitted further representations about his case which require investigation. Once the inquiries are complete and we have received the report, we will decide whether there are grounds to justify our intervention.
Overseas Visitors
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many Jamacian citizens were initially refused leave to enter the United Kingdom as not being genuine vistors (a) between January and October 1988, inclusive and (b) between January and October 1989 inclusive ;
(2) how many overseas visitors were initially refused leave to enter and were removed from the United
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Kingdom (a) between January and October 1988, inclusive and (b) between January and October 1989, inclusive ; and what were their nationalities.Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 3 November 1989] : The total numbers of passengers by nationality who were refused leave to enter and removed from the United Kingdom between January and August of 1988 and 1989 are given in the table ; figures for September and October 1989 are not yet available. It is not possible from the information available centrally to ascertain how many sought entry as visitors.
Of the 258 Jamaican citizens removed between January and August 1988 and the 561 removed between January and August 1989, 191 and 484 respectively failed to satisfy the immigration officer that they qualified as genuine visitors under paragraph 22 of the rules. Some of the remainder may also have sought entry as visitors and, if so, would have been refused for other reasons.
Passengers refused leave to enter and removed from the United
Kingdom
Nationality Number
|January to August 1988|January to August 1989
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe |3,050 |3,652
Austria |53 |85
Belgium |21 |1
Bulgaria |8 |12
Cyprus |142 |131
Czechoslovakia |11 |12
Denmark |3 |7
Finland |26 |56
France |89 |31
Germany (Democratic Republic) |2 |4
Germany (Federal Republic) |52 |16
Greece |7 |4
Hungary |10 |16
Italy |41 |9
Luxembourg |- |1
Malta |11 |15
Netherlands |40 |15
Norway |42 |64
Poland |56 |96
Portugal |434 |117
Romania |7 |11
Spain |340 |112
Sweden |86 |129
Switzerland |71 |60
Turkey |1,159 |1,930
USSR |15 |35
Yugoslavia |324 |683
Americas |1,960 |2,695
Argentina |45 |48
Barbados |5 |21
Brazil |288 |474
Canada |61 |68
Chile |62 |61
Colombia |376 |418
Cuba |- |1
Guyana |16 |28
Jamaica |258 |561
Mexico |60 |98
Peru |40 |71
Trinidad and Tobago |19 |49
United States of America |712 |766
Uruguay |5 |11
Venezuela |13 |20
Africa |3,968 |5,123
Algeria |1,363 |1,768
Egypt |14 |23
Ethiopia |8 |13
Ghana |242 |296
Kenya |86 |107
Libya |18 |16
Mauritius |124 |123
Morocco |941 |1,327
Nigeria |481 |518
Sierra Leone |69 |125
Somalia |8 |17
South Africa |201 |276
Sudan |27 |20
Tanzania |57 |65
Tunisia |130 |132
Uganda |116 |146
Zambia |32 |71
Zimbabwe |51 |80
Asia |2,614 |2,501
Bangladesh |293 |286
China |25 |61
Hong Kong BDTC |233 |106
India |468 |314
Indonesia |7 |12
Iran |252 |319
Iraq |66 |33
Israel |109 |149
Japan |133 |151
Jordan |20 |16
Kuwait |2 |17
Lebanon |49 |46
Malaysia |332 |445
Pakistan |267 |221
Philippines |82 |83
Saudi Arabia |37 |36
Singapore |70 |52
Sir Lanka |96 |78
Syria |31 |35
Thailand |42 |41
Australasia |147 |190
Australia |91 |99
New Zealand |56 |91
Others |1,070 |1,282
British Overseas Citizens |35 |22
Other countries not elsewhere specified |525 |750
Stateless |510 |510
All Nationalities |12,809 |15,443
Duty Solicitor Scheme
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by location, for the last 12 months, where the 24-hour duty solicitor scheme has been withdrawn.
The Attorney-General : I have been asked to reply.
In the last 12 months local 24-hour duty solicitor schemes have ceased in the areas covered by the St. Albans and Tunbridge Wells committees (four police stations in all).
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to review payment to solicitors who carry out the 24- hour duty solicitor arrangement.
The Attorney-General : I have been asked to eply.
Payments to solicitors who carry out the 24-hour duty solicitor arrangements are reviewed annually as part of the discussions on legal aid rates between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Society.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Unemployed Persons
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what information he has on the work of the independent agency commissioned to explore the impact of the increased maximum period of disqualification on decisions about leaving or taking work as well as the effects on the circumstances of those who are disqualified ; (2) if he will report on the results of a survey conducted by his Department in the first three months of the current year into the effects of increasing to 26 weeks the maximum period of disqualification for unemployment benefit.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) on 8 November 1989 at columns 672-73.
Claimants (Stockton)
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are receiving benefits from his Department in the parliamentary constituency of Stockton, South ; and what is the total cost of such benefits.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Family Credit
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the reduction in spending on family credit in 1989-90 if child benefit was increased in line with inflation.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Estimates based on the current caseload are that family credit spending in 1989-90 will be £16 million more than if child benefit had been increased in April 1989 in line with inflation.
Elderly People
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of elderly persons who are (a) residents of independent sector residential nursing homes and (b) in receipt of benefit and unable to meet the full costs of that accommodation and are being subsidised by relatives to the extent of 0-£10 weekly ; £10- £20 weekly and above £20 weekly, and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Information in the form requested is not available.
Child Benefit
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would have been the cost of increasing child benefit in line with earnings in each of the last two years.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The cost (net of savings on other benefits) would have been about £260 million in 1988-89 and a further £320 million in 1989-90.
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Offices (Doncaster and Wath-on-Dearne)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people served by the social security offices in (a) Doncaster and (b) Wath-on-Dearne have been refused loans by officers of the social fund since its inception on the grounds that the applicants lacked sufficient income to repay such loans.
Mr. Nicholas Scott : From April 1988 to September 1989, on 58 occasions in the Doncaster East local office area, 146 in the Doncaster West local office area and 27 in the Wath-on-Dearne local office area, the social fund officer refused a loan application giving as a reason the applicants' inability to repay. This represents 0.8 per cent., 2 per cent. and 0.6 per cent. of the applications processed for these areas respectively.
Hardship Allowance
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the figures for (a) applications and (b) the take-up of the special hardship allowance for under 18-year-olds with no YTS.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In the period 12 September 1988 to 3 November 1989 a total of 17,996 applications were considered for a direction by the Secretary of State under the severe hardship provision. In 11,902 cases (66 per cent.) a direction was given to enable payment of income support to be made.
London Pay Area
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many EOs-LO1s currently work in the London pay area ; and how many will be required following the implementation of the operational strategy.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In October 1989 there were 3,257 EOs-LO1s employed in the London pay areas.
It is not possible to give an answer as to how many EOs-LO1s will be required after the implementation of the operational strategy.
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many higher executive officers in his Department's offices will be surplus to requirements in the London pay area following the changes brought about by the operational strategy.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : It is not possible to give an answer as to how many, if any, HEOs will be surplus to requirements after the implementation of the operational strategy.
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many EOs-LO1s in the London pay area have fitted for promotion markings.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : EO-LO1s' fitness for promotion is assessed only if they apply for a promotion exercise. In the most recent competitions for promotion to higher executive officer in the Department's London regions and headquarters, there were 780 applications from EO-LO1s in the London pay area who were assessed by their line managers as being fitted for promotion.
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Crisis at Christmas
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he is planning to give help to the charity Crisis at Christmas towards the cost of its work for homeless people over the Christmas period ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Government are well aware of the valuable work being done by Crisis at Christmas but they have not approached my right hon. Friend for assistance this year.
Pensioners
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member for Walsall, North on 6 March, Official Report , column 465 , what percentage of single pensioners in 1986 had a total income of less than £50 at today's prices.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : A gross income of £50 at April 1989 prices was equivalent to a gross income of £42.79 at 1986 prices. In 1986 9 per cent. of single pensioners had a gross income below £42.79 per week. Source : Family Expenditure Survey.
Disabled People
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of the cost of each of the 10 immediate improvements in benefits for disabled people and their carers, announced in his uprating statement on 25 October, Official Report , columns 841 to 854.
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